Dad charged with DUI in son's death reflects national trend

65% of kids in the fatal crashes are riding with impaired driver, study says

May 06, 2014|By Ted Gregory and Geoff Ziezulewicz, Tribune reporters

Shannard M.L. Dyer (inset) has been charged in connection with a fatal crash on Interstate 55 near Bolingbrook that resulted in the death of his 4-year-old son. ((Will County Sheriff's Office, WGN-TV))

If, as authorities allege, a Romeoville man was driving drunk when he struck a median on Interstate 55 and contributed to the death of his 4-year-old son, the incident is an example of an unsettling characteristic in impaired driving deaths nationwide.

Sixty-five percent of children killed in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver ride with the impaired driver, according to a decadelong study published Monday. Overall, about 1 in 5 child passenger deaths in the U.S. involve an alcohol-impaired driver, the study authors report.

Dr. Kyran Quinlan, lead author of the analysis and a pediatrician at Erie Family Health Center in Chicago, said many people think impaired-driving deaths among children usually occur when an impaired driver strikes the car in which the children are riding.

The study results represent "a pattern that's different from what most people might expect," Quinlan said.

The article, published in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, states, "Alcohol-impaired driving remains a substantial threat to the safety of child passengers in the United States."

The authors suggest expanded use of sobriety checkpoints, tougher enforcement of DUI laws and seat belt laws — especially at night — wider use of ignition locks and even increasing the price of alcohol to reduce the problem.

"These are tragedies that we've got to find ways to prevent," Quinlan said.

The I-55 crash occurred shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday, when, authorities contend, Shannard M.L. Dyer, 29, of Romeoville, was driving a Dodge Journey on I-55 in Bolingbrook. After striking the concrete median wall, the SUV flipped and ejected all three passengers in the back seat, the Illinois State Police said.

Taylor Dyer was pronounced dead at 3:40 a.m. at the scene, according to the Will County coroner's office. The two other boys, ages 2 and 7, were taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Condition reports were unavailable Monday.

Shannard Dyer was taken to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, and he was charged Monday with six counts of aggravated DUI. He also was cited for driving too fast for conditions, state police said.

Police took Dyer into custody upon his release from the hospital Monday, and he may be in bond court Tuesday afternoon, state's attorney's office spokesman Charles Pelkie said.

The Pediatrics report noted that during the study period — 2001 to 2010 — 2,344 children under age 15 were killed in crashes involving at least one alcohol-impaired driver.

Illinois, which recorded 42 of those deaths during that time, holds one of the lower rates of child passengers killed in crashes involving impaired drivers, the study found. South Dakota had the highest rate. New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts registered the lowest rates.

Of those 2,344 deaths, 1,515 of the children were riding with an impaired driver, according to the study, which analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition, those impaired drivers were more likely to be male, convicted of DUI in the past three years and be without a valid driver's license, the authors said.

Most of the drivers in those cashes survived, the study reported, a trait suggesting that a certain number of the children killed might have survived had they been properly restrained.

On the encouraging side, the number of children killed riding with an alcohol-impaired driver decreased by 41 percent during the study period. That trend mirrored substantial reductions in child passenger deaths, alcohol-impaired driving deaths and total motor vehicle deaths during that time, the report stated.

Shannard Dyer had been ticketed for traffic violations four times since July 2012, according to Will County records. Those violations included running a stop sign, driving 81 mph in a 55-mph zone and traveling at 50 mph in a 35-mph zones. In those three cases, he pleaded guilty or was found guilty and paid fines, records show.

His most recent traffic citation before Sunday's crash was an improper lane usage ticket that Romeoville police issued April 12, records indicate.

In 2009 he pleaded guilty to speeding in a construction zone in DuPage County and received supervision, records show. He also has a pending resisting a peace officer charge and traffic charge in Cook County, stemming from a December incident, according to records.

Along Dyer's street in Romeoville, a neighbor described the family as "super private, super quiet" and said the home was the site of large family gatherings in the summer. The neighbor, who asked not to be named, said she spoke to Dyer only in passing and that he was a hard worker.

"They've always been very polite, very nice," the neighbor said. "When he's home, he's outside playing with those kids. My heart breaks for all of them."